The Hunted
by Kallima Angelos Tera
Summary: AU Sakura and Syaoran were raised in secret by an evil man to be perfect warriors. They escaped his cruelty only to be hunted again after 6 yrs so he could exploit the power they hold within or does he want what Sakura holds within?
1. The hunt is on

Disclaimer: I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura or its characters, but the plot, places, and new characters are totally mine, so don't steal!! If you want to borrow something, ask me and I might let you.  
  
A.N. Takes place way way into the future, think Star Wars. Well star wars was in another galaxy, in the past, years ago, but well how far into the past star wars was, is how far into the future the fic is.  
  
It was the year 17 A.G.W (A.N. A.G.W. stands for after great war) and peace was a nice feeling that was finally beginning to sink in. After all of the revolts and harsh civil wars, the people of Earth began to unite and trust each other again.  
  
The wicked Emperor Sorkin had been defeated in the Great War and put to death for all the evil acts he subjected the people of the Empire to. His top advisors and those of highest ranking in his court and army were all executed or imprisoned for life. There was no discussion about their punishment, everyone thought that they got exactly what they deserved for all the misery they caused. There was just one thing people didn't agree on and that was the releasing of Racken, Sorkin's battle coordinator. He was set free because he pleaded that he was forced into the position, but many knew he was lying. Almost everyone knew he was malevolent and that he was probably just as horrible as Sorkin. Rumors and stories had it that he had been attacking the Enchanters and kidnapping their children to find the new Jekayzies (the two special Enchanter children born every other generation to take the place as leaders of the clan) and people resented him for it. The Enchanters were good people, strong warriors, and powerful magicians who helped as well as protected those who deserved it.  
  
All Enchanters had magic, but two children were born to two random couples every other generation and they possessed great magic and became the leaders of the clan after proper training and passing tests. All accounts of Racken's wrong doings were suppressed, however, since there was no proof. After he was set free, he just disappeared and nothing was heard of him for years until he surfaced again 5 years ago looking for something important and no one quite knew what.  
  
And so our story begins, in a quiet valley close to the mountain pass. Up in a tree, a girl of 17 sat on a branch reading a book. Her clothes consisted of a tight, white sleeveless shirt and faded jeans that were close-fitting at the top and ever so slightly flared at the ends. She had light auburn hair that was wavy, and in some places, curled. It glistened gold in the sun giving her an elegant look. Her tresses reached to the end of her shoulder blades and were in a loose half ponytail. Her stunning deep, emerald eyes concentrated on the book intently. She was so distracted by her book that she didn't notice the 18-year-old brunette boy walking up right under the tree.  
  
His hair was short and messy and it reflected a lighter brown when the sun's rays danced on each lock. His clothes consisted of a white t-shirt, baggy jeans, and a blue long sleeved flannel shirt. He smirked to himself while looking at the girl.  
  
"Sakura!!" he yelled startling her to the point where she fell out of the tree only to be caught in the strong arms of the boy.  
  
"Syaoran! Did you have to scare me like that?" Sakura questioned as she looked into his deep chestnut colored eyes.  
  
"Yes, you should be on guard at all times, even while reading your favorite book." Syaoran said as he glanced at the book in her hand explaining his answer.  
  
"I know, but why should I when you're always there protecting me?" She questioned as he slowly set her feet on the ground, but not removing his hands from around her waist. Sakura turned towards him and kissed him adoringly while she played with his hair. When they released, he just grinned at her and she had to smile seeing his charming expression.  
  
"Come on, Lorka needs us. A brand new batch of pilots has just arrived." Was all he said as he held her hand and led her back to the two-building complex. The first, smaller building was a bar and living place for those that worked at the Lorka's. The second, considerably larger building was the hangar where all the repair work, refills, and tune-ups for hovercrafts were conducted.  
  
"Why am I not surprised? A new batch of pilots always just arrives." She said as she glanced at her watch.  
  
Sakura happened to be the bartender at Lorka's and Syaoran worked as a mechanic/pilot in the "craft pit" or so the repair shop was called. Syaoran kissed Sakura briefly on the lips when they were near the door of the bar and walked off towards the craft pit as she ran in through the main doors. As soon as Sakura stepped through the front door of the bar, a vodka bottle was thrown at her and she caught it with ease in her left hand just before it hit the back wall.  
  
"What do you need Tayah?" Sakura asked plainly as she skillfully spun the bottle around on the palm of her hand while walking around to her spot behind the counter.  
  
"Uh, two shots of Vodka, a bloody Mary, two rum and cokes, a scotch on the rocks, a dry bourbon, three whiskies straight up, and a neat strawberry daiquiri." A curly haired blond requested as she served a group of jolly, fat bearded men.  
  
"Coming right up." Sakura sighed. For the rest of the night, Sakura served mixes of drinks, after drink until she thought she would get drunk from just the scent of the alcohol. Finally, by four o'clock in the morning, all of the men in the bar either left or were passed out from the alcohol intake. Sakura finally put down her towel after giving the bar a good wipe down and was getting ready to leave for the night.  
  
"Wait, Sakura!" Tayah yelled as Sakura was about to walk out the door.  
  
"Hmm…? What's the matter Tayah?" Sakura questioned.  
  
"You got a letter today."  
  
"Really? From who?"  
  
"From someone in Mythdelin."  
  
"Oh!! Give it here, that's from my best friend!" Sakura promptly jogged up to Tayah and took the letter from her. She continued to a chair in the corner and sat down. Sakura tore open the letter and pulled out a light violet colored paper. Her eyes started to scan up and down the paper quickly. (A.N. I love the way Japanese and Chinese people write, and it happens to be up and down, right to left, instead of left to right, up and down. So that is how people read written documents in my stories.) As she brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, and her body began to tremble. She rested her elbow on the table as she leaned on her hand and read the rest of the letter. After reading the letter that caused Sakura so much fright, she slowly got up and began to walk toward the craft pit.  
  
Syaoran was busy fixing his last hovercraft of the day. Since he left Sakura to her work, he had repaired and refueled 13 hovercrafts including 7 M359 cargo jet crafts. He was just finishing replacing the blown out transmission when he saw a pair of feet standing in front of him. He slid out from underneath the craft and looked up to see the most beautiful person in the world.  
  
"Hey, Sakura. What's the matter?" He asked noticing the distraught look in her eyes.  
  
"I got a letter from Tomoyo today." Sakura said as she sat down next to him.  
  
"You're usually ecstatic to get a letter from her, what happened? Large Phillip's screw driver please" He requested as he slid back under the craft in order to finish his work.  
  
"Sure. I know, I was happy to get a letter from her, but its what's in the letter that disturbed me." Sakura looked at the screwdriver on the cart about 3 feet away from her and her eyes glowed ice blue. It floated up and over into her awaiting hand. "Here."  
  
"Thanks, what was in the letter? Fusion drill." Syaoran asked curiously as he tightened a screw into place. Sakura's eyes again glowed as she looked at the cart and a strange looking drill floated into the awaiting hand of Syaoran who was now sitting up next Sakura.  
  
"She's worried about us. She wants us to come to Mythdelin because...because Racken's hunting for us again." Syaoran's eyes grew wide.  
  
"What are you talking about?!" Syaoran could barely contain his rage.  
  
"Racken was there, in Mythdelin, asking around about us. He even asked Tomoyo and Eriol about us and searched their house because he thought they were lying." Sakura stated trying not to shake from fear. Syaoran again slid underneath the craft.  
  
"We have to leave. After I finish this, we'll tell Lorka."  
  
Syaoran wrapped his hand around the plug of the drill and green strings of electricity surrounded his palm. Suddenly the fusion drill began buzzing. Within seconds he was finished and he slid from underneath the vehicle. He wiped his hands off on a blue rag as he stood up. Syaoran extended his now mostly clean hand to the waiting Sakura and she gladly accepted. The couple walked back into the bar and knocked on as door in the back.  
  
"Come in!" A male voice yelled. Sakura turned the handle and both walked into the room. "Ah, what brings you to here today?"  
  
"Lorka," Syaoran began, "We have to quit, but before we do, I want to pilot a hovercraft to Mythdelin and from there, one of your partner's pilots can fly it back with other passengers."  
  
"So, you heard Racken was hunting for you guys again." Lorka stated getting questioning expressions from the two teenagers.  
  
"How..how..how.." was all Sakura could say before Lorka cut in.  
  
"When late at night, I see things floating from carts and you (pointing at Syaoran) using electric devices without pluggin' them in, you start to think. You two are those two kids who supposedly blew up Racken's research facility and escaped, aren't you?" Lorka asked trying to confirm his theories.  
  
"Yeah," both answered looking at the ground.  
  
"Wow, who would have known? You two are my best workers and you've been here so long, I feel as if you're my children. I'll see what I can do about the flight and take this." Lorka said handing Syaoran a large tan colored envelope he pulled from his drawer.  
  
"What's this?" Syaoran asked peering inside the envelope. Suddenly Syaoran's eyes opened wide enough to stick a fist in. "We can't take this."  
  
"Of course you can, think of it as advanced pay-checks." Lorka stated leaning back in his chair.  
  
"This is way more than we both make in a month." Sakura said looking into the envelope.  
  
"Then the rest is a Christmas present and birthday presents." Lorka said smiling as he looked at their shocked faces.  
  
"Thank you so much!" Sakura exclaimed as she ran over to Lorka and gave him a hug.  
  
"Ha ha, you're welcome, and remember, you can always come back here. I'll always have job positions and a room open for the both of you." Lorka said with a wide smile.  
  
"Thanks, Lorka. We'll never forget this." Syaoran said as he shook Lorka's hand.  
  
The couple smiled and said thanked him again as they walked out of the office. Sakura and Syaoran walked up the stairs to their room and entered after unlocking the door. Syaoran proceeded to collapse on the bed and Sakura crawled in and laid sideways on his chest. Syaoran put one arm behind his head, under the pillow, and put the other around Sakura 's waist.  
  
"You know Syaoran…." Sakura let the rest hang waiting for Syaoran to answer.  
  
"Hmmm?" He asked as he lifted his arm to play with her hair.  
  
"Running away and hiding, being so scared all brings back bad memories." Sakura said as she traced a long scar down Syaoran's left forearm.  
  
"..painful memories." Syaoran said as he parted Sakura's honey-shaded hair at the base of her neck. He proceeded to trace what appeared to be a deep, crooked scar down her neck.  
  
"I'm scared Shaoran, what if Racken manages to find us and takes us back to Citadel?" Sakura asked with tears brimming her eyes remembering the pain she suffered at the hand of Racken.  
  
"I won't let anybody hurt you, not even Racken. I will protect you forever, I promise." Syaoran swore to Sakura.  
  
"I don't want you to protect me forever, I just want you to be here with me forever." Sakura admitted as a tear fell down her cheek.  
  
"I'm always going to be here for you." Syaoran said as if it were a known fact of life.  
  
"But how do you know that? That's not for sure. Nothing is."  
  
"I don't know. But know this, I will always love you." Syaoran kissed Sakura tenderly on the head.  
  
"And I will always love you." As Sakura said this, Syaoran pulled something out of his pocket.  
  
"Sakura I know our souls are bound together forever. My heart and my soul belongs to you forever and I don't want anyone to take you away from me." Sakura pulled herself up to look at Syaoran with confused, but love-filled eyes.  
  
"I know and I will always belong to you." Sakura replied. Syaoran lifted up his hand to show Sakura an object he was playing with in his hands. It was a beautiful platinum ring that was designed so that two pieces of platinum intertwined around to form the ring. On top was a diamond shaped emerald with long tips at the top of the diamond and at the bottom. Tiny, sparkling diamonds were sprinkled around the emerald like bits of glitter. He spun it in such a way that Sakura could read the inscription, 'I will always love you.' "A…a…ar…are…are you.."  
  
"Will you?" Syaoran asked with hope-filled eyed.  
  
"Yes, Syaoran. Of course I will marry you." (A.N. that was for those slow people out there.) Sakura said as she smiled, tears of joy spilling from her eyes.  
  
Syaoran slipped the ring onto her left hand. (A.N. take a guess which finger.) He was rewarded with a gentle kiss. That gentle kiss soon turned into a deeply passionate one. Neither could hold back the desire they felt for the other. All the pain and fear that they felt before faded away as they drowned in each other's love. Neither could hold back the passion and the need for the other. Neither could resist the temptation to just leave everything behind and feel how much the other loved them. They couldn't resist….just for this one night.  
  
  
  
°°¤¤¤°°2 week later °°¤¤¤°°  
  
  
  
The sun's rays streamed through the window of the small room. The light played on the walls making odd pictures of distorted objects. Syaoran awoke to hear Sakura's soft breathing on his chest. He smiled at how angelic and innocent she looked as she slept.  
  
"Hey Sakura. Sweetheart you have to get up or we'll be late for work." Syaoran said amusedly at Sakura's resistance to wake up.  
  
"Come on Syaoran, just 5 more minutes please? I had a really late night last night. The men started having a drinking contest with whiskies and bourbons and then they tried to feel up each other so Tayah and I had to force them out the door and you don't even want to know what happened when we got out the poles. You have no id—" Sakura stopped abruptly as Syaoran fought to suppress his laughter. When she looked at him with a quizzical look, he broke out laughing. "Okay, what's so funny mister?" Sakura questioned clearly annoyed.  
  
"It's just that here I've been trying to get you up for a while now and then you try to convince me to let you sleep in and you end up waking your self up completely and you don't even realize it."  
  
"Huh. I didn't realize that either. Maybe I should get up."  
  
"You better. Look at the time." Sakura grabs Syaoran's wrist and pulls it towards her so she can see the time.  
  
"Holy shit! Why didn't you tell me it was so late?" Sakura exclaimed as she made a mad dash around the room to get her hair done and find her shoes. While she was rushing, she missed what Syaoran was saying, but she could always ask him about it later. Within seconds she was out the door, down the hall, and down the stairs before she suddenly stopped. You could hear her stomping all the way back up the stairs and down the hall. The door opened with a loud Bang! Sakura stood in the doorway with a not so pleased look on her face looking at Syaoran sitting up in bed with a smile on his face.  
  
"WHY didn't you tell me that I was still in my nightclothes?" (A.N. I had fun accentuating that sentence) Sakura said as fumed literally wafted from her head.  
  
"Well A) you didn't ask and 2) you were moving way to fast to hear a word I said. I told you three times while you were running around like a chicken with its head chopped off. (A.N. scary thought is that they can actually do that, chickens don't need a head.)  
  
"Hey, I was disoriented. Give me a break." Syaoran got out of bed and stepped onto the wood floor. He wasn't wearing anything other than a pair of boxers. In the new dawn, you could clearly see his well cut abdomen and muscular arms and legs. (A.N. drooool) You could visibly see the tattoo on his left bicep of a dagger with a jagged edge in front of the outlines of a strange symbol. Syaoran's hair was no more unruly than it usually was. Looking at Syaoran's figure made Sakura smile mischievously.  
  
"What?" Syaoran asked walking to the bathroom. He quickly brushed his teeth as Sakura changed out of her PJ's and into her regular clothes. When he stepped out of the bathroom, he was met by the lips of Sakura giving him a deep passionate kiss that was suddenly broken leaving Syaoran unsatisfied.  
  
"Well, I'll see you later, love." Sakura sung happily as she walked out of the room with a spring in her step leaving Syaoran high and dry and wanting more.  
  
"I hate it when she does that." Syaoran growled as he put on his clothes.  
  
When he was done, he quickly ran down the hallway and pounded down the stairs. He looked carefully around the bar for a sign of Sakura. He caught a glimpse of auburn and dashed to the kitchen. Sakura was talking to Mai and Tayah about "girl stuff" when Syaoran grabbed her wrist and whirled her around. She was caught completely by surprise since she hadn't heard him over the hissing of the pots. Syaoran took advantage of her surprised state and pulled her into a fiery kiss that both thoroughly enjoyed. After a about a minute (A.N. that is a pretty long time.) Syaoran gently pulled away from Sakura and slowly opened his eyes. He gave her a quick smirk, grabbed a bagel, and dashed out of the kitchen.  
  
"What was that for?" Tayah asked, clearly entertained by the gesture just given.  
  
"He was getting me back for this morning." Sakura said in a slight daze while a smile grazed her lips.  
  
  
  
°¤°¤Outside in the Craft Pit, oh, let's say 4 hours later at 12:00¤°¤°  
  
  
  
"Hey Syaoran!" called a spiky black haired guy with goggles on his forehead working on a hover bike. (A.N. think spiky hair like older Gohan's if you don't know who I'm talking about, tell me and I'll e-mail you a picture.)  
  
"What Shiro?" Syaoran answered.  
  
"What was in you this morning?"  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"You know what I mean. Mai told me that you sporadically grabbed Sakura's arm, spun her around, and knock-me-off-my-feet kissed her."  
  
"Oh, that."  
  
"Yeah that! What was with that?"  
  
"And why should I tell you?"  
  
"Because I want to know."  
  
"You and?"  
  
"Me and Mai"  
  
"And?"  
  
"And Tayah."  
  
"Uh hem?"  
  
"And the rest of the guys in here, the girls in the bar, and Lorka, you happy now?"  
  
"Actually I wasn't expecting anymore. I was going to tell you, but now that I know all those people want to know, I'm not telling you."  
  
"Oh, COME ON, Syaoran!!"  
  
"No."  
  
"Syaoran!" Lorka called from outside.  
  
"Yes?" He replied looking out from underneath the 3500 MT Classic hover car.  
  
"Come out here!"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I want you to meet someone!"  
  
"Okay," Syaoran sighed. "Well, I guess you'll never know." Syaoran patronized Shiro before he left to see who called him outside.  
  
Syaoran walked out of the Craft Pit wiping his hands on his blue rag while Shiro was left behind grabbing his hair and yelling obscenities to the ceiling. As the door closed, a small smirk was seen on Syaoran's face as he shook his head. He looked up to see Lorka talking to a young man, in his early twenties, who was rather tall. The man had short, jet-black hair and looked somewhat muscular. (A.N guess who) To all but the trained eye, like Syaoran, you could not see the hand phaser or various other weapons he was carrying under his long coat. (A.N. like Neo's from the Matrix. Better yet, his entire attire is like Neo's in the part where they rescue Morpheus)  
  
"Ah, Syaoran Li meet Touya Kinigamo." Touya held out his hand to reveal a small tattoo in the shape of a square with the left side protruding longer upwards and the right side protruding longer downwards with a thin ring encircling the symbol at an angle on his wrist as both men grabbed the others wrist with his right hand (A.N. okay, this symbol thingy, think of one L the regular way and another L upside down and backwards so that the short bottom legs touch to form a square with extra pieces hanging off on both sides) "He will be your pilot, the best one I have." Lorka finished.  
  
"Him?? Isn't he sorta…young?" The man named Touya asked with curiosity. All he received in a reply from Syaoran was a cocked eyebrow.  
  
"You asked for my most experienced, my best, pilot. He's it."  
  
"As long as he can get me to Mythdelin in one piece, I'm okay with it."  
  
"Oh, I can get you there." Syaoran said in a challenging voice. The next few minutes were spent looking at the two glaring at each other, neither willing to break for both were too proud to lose.  
  
"Shaoran!" A sweet, angelic voice called that caused Syaoran to immediately snap out of his contest.  
  
"Huh? Oh." Syaoran smiled looking upon the face of his beloved.  
  
"Lunch," Sakura quickly said before giving him a quick peck on the lips and then handing him a closed Tupperware container. (A.N. those things last for years!)  
  
"Thanks, what is it?" he asked as he peered slightly under the lid.  
  
"It's seafood lo-mein. I have to get back to work now." Sakura started to hurry away.  
  
"Hold on a second Sakura!" Lorka yelled and Sakura turned around as the three men walked up to her.  
  
"Yes, Lorka?"  
  
"Is there any food left?"  
  
"No, but I could make you some more if you want."  
  
"Yes, please. Would you like something to eat?" Lorka turned to Touya and asked.  
  
"If you don't mind." Touya said to Sakura.  
  
"Sure," Sakura said as she smiled brightly making her eyes glitter. Touya concentrated on Sakura, on her features, her eyes. 'Green Eyes?'  
  
"Oh! Forgive my manners. Touya, this is Sakura, my head bartender." Lorka apologized for not introducing them earlier. Touya was somewhat lost in thought. 'Sakura? Is he kidding me?!? Am I completely out of my mind???' Touya suddenly snapped back to reality when he saw her hand held out to his.  
  
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Sakura smiled as she took hold of his wrist.  
  
"Yeah, same here."  
  
"I guess I'll go and make lunch then. It should be ready in about an hour."  
  
"Thanks, Sakura." Lorka said with a smile.  
  
"Bye, love." Sakura said softly before she kissed him. As Sakura walked away, Syaoran couldn't help but think how beautiful her hair looked as it glittered in the sun and blew in the wind.  
  
"I'm going to take my lunch break now." Syaoran informed.  
  
"Why don't you come with us to the bar and you can eat while we wait for our lunch." Lorka suggested.  
  
"Okay, sure." Syaoran accepted.  
  
"Great! While we're at it, we can talk about the flight details." All three began to walk back to the bar. When they got inside, they took three stools at the bar. Syaoran began to eat as Touya and Lorka began to talk to him about the flight.  
  
"Okay then, flight plans." Lorka announced as he sat down. "What kind of flight would you like? Fast, slow, are you bringing someone else, or flying alone?"  
  
"As fast as possible please and it's just me flying." Touya requested.  
  
Syaoran looked up from his food and asked, "Do you have any special car-"  
  
"AH CHOO!" came from the kitchen and cut Syaoran off in the middle of his sentence.  
  
"….go?" Syaoran looked curiously through the window on the swinging kitchen door. "Sakura, are you okay?" he called.  
  
"Yeah," Sakura yelled, "I'm fine. Some flour from the this morning tickled my nose, that's all."  
  
"Okay. Bless you then." He called back.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"So, any special cargo?" Syaoran repeated his question.  
  
"Uh…no. Just me and a my bag." Touya remarked after pondering about the question for a second.  
  
"Well, one passenger and small cargo, I guess we can take the Phoenix. What do you think, Lorka?" Syaoran suggested,  
  
"Hey, it sounds good to me." Lorka agreed. The three men sat and made natural conversation about hover cars, planes, and bikes while Syaoran ate every couple of comments. (A.N. cars :drool:) While they were talking about classic cars called vipers, mustangs, and lotuses, Sakura walked in with two plates of lo-mein.  
  
"Here you go, guys." Sakura said as she set down the plates before Touya and Lorka.  
  
"Why, thank you Sakura. It looks delicious." Lorka remarked.  
  
"Wow! It tastes great too. I haven't had good cooking like this since my mom cooked for me when I was 9." Touya complimented.  
  
"Thanks," Sakura blushed slightly before…"ah ah AH-CHOO"  
  
"You aren't coming down with something, are you?" Syaoran asked worriedly.  
  
"Aside from feeling a little funny lately, I don't think so. I bet its nothing." Sakura admitted. This didn't stop Syaoran from walking around the counter to keep her safe.  
  
"You sure?" he asked as Sakura wrapped her hands around his neck and he wrapped his around her waist.  
  
"I'm sure."  
  
"As long as you're sure." Syaoran said softly as he bent down and kissed Sakura. All Touya and Lorka could do was watch as Syaoran slowly brought his hands to Sakura's sides and started tickling her in the ribs. The immediate response out of Sakura was a fit of giggles.  
  
"(ha ha)…Syaoran…(he he)…s…(ha ha)…st..st..(a ha ha ha)…STOP!" Sakura screamed through an uncontrollable fit of giggles. His relentless attack made her stomach hurt from the bouts of laughter. She squirmed and wiggled trying to get out of Syaoran's grasp. After a while, she finally got free and ran a few feet away from him.  
  
"Don't make me hurt you." Sakura said in a teasingly serious tone. (A.N. oxymoron,…I know, I know.)  
  
"I'd like to see you try. I don't think you could bring yourself to do it." Syaoran said as he grinned.  
  
"You're right," Sakura sighed," I'll settle for stealing your heart." Sakura said with small smile.  
  
"Well, I don't think you could steal my heart."  
  
"And why not?" Sakura asked sounding a little angry and hurt, she was almost yelling.  
  
"Because you've had it for years." Syaoran said lovingly.  
  
"Oh Syaoran, you are the sweetest guy in the world." Syaoran gently pulled her towards him.  
  
"You think?" He asked a little teasingly.  
  
"Mm hmm," Sakura hummed before the couple passionately kissed, once again. Syaoran gently pulled out of the kiss.  
  
"If we keep doing that, I'll never want to get back to work."  
  
"You don't have to, I can always keep you hostage." Sakura grinned.  
  
"If you do that, he won't be able to finish fixing the Phoenix." Lorka said a little jokingly from the sidelines.  
  
"Why is he fixing the Phoenix? No one can fly that temper mental old bird except for Syaoran." Sakura turned to Lorka and asked as if he was crazy.  
  
"He is flying it." Lorka said matter-of-factly.  
  
"He's flying me to Mythdelin tomorrow." Touya added.  
  
"Ohh, well I guess I have to let you go." Sakura said sadly with a cute puppy dogface.  
  
"Yeah, I'll see you later." Syaoran sighed. He turned to Touya, "Nice to meet you."  
  
"Same here." Touya replied as he finished up the last bit of his delicious meal.  
  
Syaoran exited out of the bar to start working on the Phoenix. It didn't need that much work since it was practically never used. The extremely temper mental plane never acted up when Syaoran flew it, but if someone else tried, the plane would refuse to run. Sakura picked up the empty plates and went to the kitchen as Lorka went to his back office leaving Touya by himself. After a minute or so, Sakura cam back out and began to wipe off the bar.  
  
"You two are really close, huh?" Touya asked out of the blue.  
  
"Who? Me and Syaoran?" Sakura questioned.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well, let's just say we're as close as anyone could get at this point." Sakura admitted as she showed Touya her engagement ring.  
  
"Woah, you two are engaged?!?!" Sakura just smiled.  
  
"Yeah, Syaoran's my first and only love. I wouldn't dream of anyone putting this ring on my finger except for him."  
  
Touya couldn't help but slightly grin at the girl who was so deeply in love already. He couldn't help but feel a bit overprotective over a girl who was going to get married at such a young age. She could have at least waited a while to make sure that this guy was the right one. From where he came from, men had to prove their devotion in order to receive a girl's hand in marriage from her father. Well, he wasn't back home and she wasn't part of his tribe. Hell, she wasn't even part of his family, but he just couldn't shake the feeling that he was supposed to protect her.  
  
¤¤¤¤¤°°°°°¤¤¤¤¤°°°°°¤¤¤¤¤°°°°°¤¤¤¤¤°°°°°¤¤¤¤¤°°°°°¤¤¤¤¤°°°°°¤¤¤¤¤°°°°°¤¤¤¤¤° °°°°¤¤¤¤¤°°°°°¤¤¤¤¤°°°°°  
  
Hope you people liked it and I would like to at least get some reviews no matter if it's to say you like it, hate it, or say you are from the planet Bob of my own little universe conveniently named my own little universe. JUST PLEASE, PRETTY PLEASE REVIEW!!!! If no one reviews or only, like 5 people review, then I'll concentrate on something else and another chapter won't come out for a really long time, but I will continue. 


	2. Trouble Begins

Hello!! I'm back!! Sorry about the delay and all. I've been really busy with school (blech!), all the Jazz Competitions, and the Math Competitions that I haven't been home or on the computer as often (boo hoo). But now all of that is over and I'm free to concentrate on writing again so I can start rewriting Their Cursed and Forbidden Love, (sorry) should be done and posted by the end of spring break this week.  
  
Thank you very much to my editor, cousin, bestest friend, etc. etc. Sakura Starr (miss you!) and:  
  
Ice-cold  
  
Ao Tianrong  
  
Silver  
  
Draconis  
  
MOG  
  
LittleGreenWolf  
  
Keri  
  
Star Catcher  
  
Moshimoshiqueen  
  
Thank you for reviewing!! Now for the way too long overdue chapter of The Hunted.  
  
Oh yeah, I don't own Card Captors or any of the character but the original peoples do belong to me, they're ALL mine!!  
  
  
  
°°°° An hour before the bar opened °°°°  
  
  
  
Sakura looked nervously all over her room. It wasn't there! The bag she always traveled with, her favorite bag, was missing!! Where could she have put it? Sakura remembered it being in her closet since the last time she traveled. 'Think, think, think. Where could it be? THAT'S IT!! I lent it to Tayah!' Sakura ran out of her room and down the hall. After almost tripping over a loose floorboard, she finally made it to Tayah's room. Gently she knocked on the door.  
  
"Come in!" A voice yelled from the other side of the door. Sakura opened the door quickly and went inside. Tayah was sitting on her bed painting her toenails.  
  
"Hey Tayah." Sakura greeted with a smile.  
  
"Hi Sakura. What brings you to my humble abode?"  
  
"Do you have the bag I lent you so you could go to Atalee?"  
  
"Oh yeah! I forgot to give it to you when I got back. Let me go get it." Tayah walked on her heels to the closet so she wouldn't mess up her nail polish job. After a few minutes of silence, Sakura was about to peer inside the closet when Tayah popped out with a smile on her face. Sakura jumped at the sudden appearance, but smiled when she saw her bag in Tayah's hands.  
  
"Thanks, Tayah." Sakura smiled.  
  
"No problem." Tayah said as she escorted Sakura out of the room.  
  
  
  
¤°¤°¤ Later that night ¤°¤°¤  
  
  
  
"Are you all packed to go?" Syaoran asked as he closed his filled brown, leather satchel.  
  
"Mm hmm. All the necessities." Sakura said as she closed her brown leather book bag.  
  
"We should get to bed then, we'll have to get up early to pack the plane."  
  
"Okay."  
  
Sakura climbed into the bed and crawled under the covers. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she fell fast asleep. She had a pretty tough day with all of the goodbyes and tears. Syaoran could tell that she was really going to miss this place. It was the only real home that they had really ever known. He was going to miss this place too. No matter what, he was going to make sure Sakura could come back here and have a happy life. Syaoran gently kissed her forehead and slid into bed next to her. Tomorrow it would all begin…  
  
  
  
¤¤¤¤ At Dawn ¤¤¤¤  
  
  
  
Syaoran slowly rolled out of bed and stood up to see the first few rays of light touch the still, dark earth. He picked up the bundle of Sakura and bed sheets and took her to the roof right outside their window. He sat her down in his lap and slowly nudged her awake.  
  
"Hmmm?" Sakura asked groggily.  
  
"Look." Was all Syaoran said as he nudged Sakura with his head. Sakura turned her head in the direction Syaoran told her to and slowly opened her eyes. What she saw was enough to take her breath away. It was a beautiful scene to behold as the lovers gazed upon the beautiful sunrise as each delicate rays of light stretched in every direction across the cold, desolate land.  
  
"It's beautiful Shaolan. Absolutely beautiful." Sakura sighed savoring every moment for she wouldn't know when or where she would see such a sight ever again.  
  
"Enjoy it, sweetheart. You deserve every beautiful thing this world has to offer."  
  
"We deserve it." Sakura snuggled closer to Syaoran and watched the sunrise.  
  
As soon as the sun reached just above the land, they returned inside to get ready. When the two were ready to leave, they took one last look at their home and locked the door. They tried to give their key back to Lorka, but he insisted they keep it for when they return. Syaoran and Sakura said their good-byes and went outside to the hanger where the Phoenix was. Sakura checked all the systems inside to see if they were functional and Syaoran did one last check of the power systems before he fueled the hover plane. While Sakura was testing out the environmental controls, she heard unsteady footsteps behind her. When she looked behind her she smiled.  
  
"(YAWN) You're coming with us?" Touya asked surprised.  
  
"Yes, where ever Syaoran goes I go as well because he wouldn't be able to stand it if something happened to me and he wasn't here to protect me." Sakura explained.  
  
"Oh, well I can't believe you can get up this earl-." He was cut off by another yawn. Sakura giggled.  
  
"On usual days you could never get me up before 8:00, but today, today was different."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"Syaoran showed me the most beautiful sight I have seen in a while. Seeing such beauty is one thing that can make anyone wake up and enjoy."  
  
"What did he show you?"  
  
"The sunrise just as it began." Sakura smiled.  
  
"And I will only share such beauty with the one I love." Syaoran added as he climbed aboard. "Are we ready to go?" Both passengers nodded and Syaoran closed the door.  
  
Syaoran slid into the pilot's seat, Sakura sat in the front passenger's seat, and Touya sat in another seat right behind Sakura. Syaoran and Sakura pushed a few buttons and flipped some switches before turning on the craft and lifting off. Touya had to admit that that was the smoothest take-off he had ever had, but the entire flight was ahead. He had time to criticize then. For now he was going to lean back and catch up on some sleep.  
  
~  
  
A pleasant smell caressed Touya's nose. He smelled it, it had to be… PANCAKES!! He opened his eyes to a horrific sight. There was no one in the front seats. Touya began to panic and look from side to side until a voice reassured him, he was not alone.  
  
"Oy, Kinigamo! Are you awake?" Syaoran asked from behind him.  
  
"Huh? Yeah, yeah. I'm up." Touya fumbled with his seat belt as he asked Syaoran, "Uh, who's flying the plane?"  
  
"Auto-pilot, this is the most barren stretch of air space on the whole journey, so this is when I take a break."  
  
"What exactly do you do on breaks?" Touya asked finally freeing himself from the seat-belt bondage.  
  
"What else? Eat of course." Touya looked up to see Syaoran sitting at a foldout table and Sakura was cooking something at a kitchen he hadn't seen before.  
  
"Want some pancakes, Touya?" Sakura asked as she flipped one in the air.  
  
"Yeah, sure." Touya sat down across from Syaoran and Sakura placed a plate of pancakes in front of him. Both men reached for the syrup at the same time causing them both to fight over who got to use it first. Seeing their dilemma, Sakura handed a bottle of syrup to Touya. Touya gratefully took the syrup from Sakura and continued to have a glaring contest with Syaoran all through the meal. Sakura cleaned up the stove and pushed a button, which caused the entire kitchen to retract into the wall.  
  
"I didn't know this thing had a kitchen." Touya admitted not pulling his gaze away from Syaoran.  
  
"Yeah, this thing is an entire flying house like a Winnebago." Sakura responded.  
  
"What's a Winnebago?" Touya asked.  
  
"Never mind. When you're finished, put you dish over th-" Sakura yawned deeply as she pointed to the slot in the wall across from her.  
  
"Maybe you should get some rest, you seem tired." Syaoran suggested.  
  
"I don't know why I've been so tired lately, but I guess you're right." Sakura kissed Syaoran and retreated to a room in the back.  
  
"Where are you going?" Asked Touya curiously.  
  
"To the (yawn) bedroom in the back." Sakura replied sleepily.  
  
"You had a room back there and you never told me?" Touya exclaimed.  
  
"Well, you never asked." Syaoran said slyly as Sakura entered the room and closed the door. Touya just rolled his eyes.  
  
  
  
¤°¤°¤ 2 hours later ¤°¤°¤  
  
  
  
Touya had to admit it, the flight had been extremely smooth and even the landing was a smooth as silk, but he wasn't going to tell the kid that. Admitting he was the best pilot Touya had ever seen would just cause the kid's ego to flare and that was the last thing he needed. Syaoran turned off all of the blinking lights and switches before getting up and going to the room in the back where Sakura was still sleeping leaving Touya clueless on what to do.  
  
  
  
~~  
  
  
  
Syaoran decided to leave the Kinigamo guy where he was. If he was smart enough, he would stay put. Syaoran opened the room door and left it open as he went over to the sleeping Sakura. He absolutely dreaded waking his angel up when she was so tired, but they had to get going. Gently, Syaoran kissed Sakura's forehead and this caused her to stir. Slowly she opened her eyes and blinked back the sleepy feeling.  
  
"We're there already?" Sakura yawned as she stretched her arms up to awaken her sleeping muscles.  
  
"Yeah, we just landed." Syaoran smiled at how cute she looked.  
  
"Well let's get going." Sakura climbed out of the bed and picked up her bag as Syaoran swung his over his shoulder. Both walked out of the room swiftly while Sakura still yawned.  
  
"Come on Kinigamo." Syaoran instructed as he and Sakura walked out the door. Touya picked up his stuffed duffel bag and followed the two teenagers out the door.  
  
Syaoran proceeded to greet and have a little conversation with someone around Touya's age with brown hair that was only shaved at the sides. The long locks of hair on the top of his head were bleached and streaked blue. Syaoran seemingly asked for directions to someplace and, with a smile, the man directed Syaoran in the direction of the stairs. Touya quickly ran up to them as Syaoran gave a quick thanks and walked toward the room at the top of the stairs. The three travelers proceeded to enter the open door to find a man that looked around the same age as Lorka.  
  
"Good morning Reid." Sakura smiled happily all sleepiness forgotten.  
  
"Why, good morning Sakura. It's always a pleasure to see you." Reid said as Sakura just smiled. "And it is always good to see you as well Syaoran. What can I do for you today?"  
  
"We're checking into the city, the three of us. That and I'm dropping off the Phoenix to anyone of your pilots who cares to try to fly it back to Lorka." Syaoran answered.  
  
"You guys are staying here?" Reid inquired surprised.  
  
"Yes we are." Sakura said.  
  
"Well, I doubt anyone will fly her, but I'll keep her here. Here are your passes and I hope you have a wonderful day." Reid smiled as he handed them three light-blue credit card-like cards. Both Syaoran and Sakura thanked Reid and led Touya back out. They walked out of the airport into the empty streets of the just awakening city of Mythdelin.  
  
"I had no idea you guys were staying or living in Mythdelin as well." Touya broke the ice.  
  
"Well, you never asked." Syaoran shot back.  
  
"You never volunteered the information."  
  
"Why should I have t-" Syaoran stopped abruptly closing his eyes. He tilted his head to the side and listened as he sniffed the air. At that very moment, he spun around to see a line of ninjas dressed in black spanning from end to end of the street. "soulless warriors."  
  
"They're after me." All three of the travelers said in unison getting strange looks from each other. They had no time to ask questions because just then, the soulless warriors attacked.  
  
The ninjas surrounded Sakura, Syaoran, and Touya in a circle quicker than the human eye could see. Immediately, Touya drew two automatic laser guns from the holster under his long leather coat and started firing at the ninjas knocking a few out as he fought the others hand to hand. When he got a chance, Touya looked back to Syaoran and Sakura to see if they were captured. To his surprise, Sakura was behind Syaoran and Syaoran was defeating his last opponent with swift, blurring motions using a beautiful katana that wasn't anywhere in sight before. As Touya finished electrocuting his last opponent with his lasers, he turned to the two teenagers to see Sakura spin around abruptly to look at something behind her. To his worst fear, Touya saw Zooids, flying hunt and capture androids, approach them. Touya jumped and took cover behind a dumpster as they Zooids started to fire their poison sting darts to knock them all out. When Touya looked up, he saw the Zooids heading for Sakura and Syaoran and was about to tell them to run for cover when he saw something that shocked him beyond belief. Sakura walked a little bit in front of Syaoran and her eyes glowed ice blue and the ends of her hair begin to rise up higher and higher on their own as she began to float up into the air. She stretched her arms straight out with her wrists flexed and her fingers spread out. Beginning with her palms, a translucent ice blue light appeared and spread out in a bubble around her and Syaoran. When the sting darts hit the shield, they dissipated with a bright spark, not being able to penetrate it. Registering that their attempts were futile, the Zooids landed on the ground and sprouted feet. They began to walk towards the two protected in the bubble. Sakura dropped her shield and, with her eyes still glowing, looked over towards Touya and flicked a wrist upwards in his direction. Touya's eyes became as wide as saucers as he was floating unattached to anything. Seeing that both of the two were off the ground, Syaoran spun his sword around before stabbing it into the ground. Green lightning bolts shot from his hands, through the sword, along the ground, and shorted out the Zooids. Syaoran released one hand from his sword and thicker green lightning bolts shot from that hand towards the Zooids again, this time burning them into melted titanium. Sakura gently let herself and Touya down and returned to normal. She walked towards Syaoran who had just pulled his katana out of the pavement.  
  
"Syaoran, first the soulless warriors, then the Zooids. There's one we're missing." She contemplated as the couple thought in deep concentration as Touya walked towards them. Suddenly both of their heads shot up in realization.  
  
"The Shadows!" Syaoran and Sakura yelled at once. As if on cue, two misty soldiers rose up from the ground behind them and injected something into their necks causing them to collapse onto the floor unconscious. Touya watched with his eyes wide, never seeing those people before. As he thought this, he too felt drowsy and then saw only blackness.  
  
  
  
~¤¤°°¤¤~¤¤°°¤¤~¤¤°°¤¤~¤¤°°¤¤~¤¤°°¤¤~¤¤°°¤¤~¤¤°°¤¤~¤¤°°¤¤~¤¤°°¤¤~¤¤°°¤¤~¤¤°°¤ ¤~¤¤°°¤¤~¤¤°°¤¤~¤¤°°¤¤~¤¤°°¤¤~¤¤°°¤¤  
  
There we go, all done. Sorry it's short, but I needed to stop it there for cliffhanger purposes, but I promise that this will be the shortest chapter I will ever write for this story (I think). Anyways PLEASE REVIEW TO TELL ME YOU LIKE IT, HATE IT, OT TO SAY YOU ARE BOB FROM THE PLANET BOB. I DON'T CARE, JUST REVIEW!!!! 


	3. Um, that's a tree

11-18-02  
  
This would be the next chapter. Yes, I know it's horrendously late. My only comments are homework comes in tons and school sucks. That should explain everything. I would go through and put everyone who reviewed in a little thank you deally, but I just want to get this chapter out as soon as possible so people won't kill me.  
  
Thanks a lot for your help Jess!! I really needed it and it sounds so much better now. Don't know what planet this story would be stuck on if you didn't help me pull it together. Story ahoy!  
  
  
  
°°¤¤ In the middle of the unknown, A.K.A somewhere over the rainbow ¤¤°°  
  
Touya woke up in the corner of a clean, cold cell. All he saw at first were blurry colors, but slowly his eyes regained focused and he saw a strange command room. The cell was surrounded by, he guessed, a two-foot thick wall of steel except for the front that was covered by a strong force field. He turned his head in the direction of the noises he heard to see Sakura and Syaoran communicating in strange clicks, beeps, and other various noises he recognized but disregarded quickly due to his aching head. Syaoran looked at Touya from the other corner of the cell and told Sakura, who was facing Syaoran, in the strange dialect something as he nodded in Touya's direction. Sakura spun around and smiled weakly.  
  
"So you're awake." She said in normal Japanese.  
  
"Yeah, what language were you guys talking in a second ago?" Touya asked, curious if he thought it was what he thought it was.  
  
"We don't know, we spoke it until he taught us Japanese." Syaoran said detestably.  
  
"Oh, well one small question. WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET SUPER POWERS???" Touya yelled evidently confused.  
  
"We were born with them, I think. Our guess is that we inherited it from our parents." Sakura said simply.  
  
"Who's he?" Touya asked more calmly as Syaoran walked up to the force field and slowly touched it with his index finger only to be violently tossed against the opposite wall of the cell, his hand giving off a little bit of steam.  
  
"(cough) I don't think I'll try that again." Syaoran coughed.  
  
"Are you okay?" Touya asked horrified.  
  
"(cough cough) Mm, hmm." Syaoran replied in a raspy, dry voice as Sakura helped him off the floor. When he regained his strength, she went over to the force field and started examining it.  
  
"Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" Touya asked as he sat next to Syaoran who was watching Sakura.  
  
"Do I have a choice? I guess not, just don't scream."  
  
"Well, I wanted to know how long you lived at Lorka's, you seemed close."  
  
"Yeah, well we lived there for almost six years."  
  
"We?"  
  
"Yeah, me and Sakura." Syaoran nodded in Sakura's direction.  
  
"By yourselves, no parents?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Six years.. How old are you?"  
  
"18."  
  
"Woah! You lived at Lorka's since you were 12? A little too young to be living on our own weren't we?"  
  
"Well, then I was 13 and I can take care of myself Mr. I-think-everyone- who's-younger-than-me-is-too-young-to-do-anything." Syaoran pointed out making a reference to earlier with the whole pilot debate.  
  
"And Sakura lived there since she was 13 too?"  
  
"No, 11. She turned 12 after we were there for a month. Sakura's 17 now. She's a little over a year younger than I am."  
  
"What happened to your families?"  
  
Syaoran bowed his head and looked down. "We, uh, we.Since I was 3 and Sakura was 2, we've been pretty much orphans. We don't know who our parents are. We don't even know if we have families anymore."  
  
"I'm sorry." Touya apologized feeling deeply ashamed and embarrassed.  
  
"Don't be, we never knew who they were so we can't miss them or cry over them. All we can do is wish we had them."  
  
"If I heard you say that 10 years ago, I would thought twice about leaving my family, my home."  
  
"You left them?" Syaoran asked surprised.  
  
"Not really 'left.' Went out on my own, but I haven't gone back."  
  
"You should because one day you will go back and they will be gone."  
  
"You're right, but I can't go back."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I've tried to make myself go, but I just can't. At least not until I've completed what I set out to do."  
  
"There's another reason you won't go back, I can smell it."  
  
"Yeah, it's just bad memories. Just like this place is for you guys."  
  
"How'd you know?" Syaoran asked a bit surprised.  
  
"The way you two winced when you were talking about this place a moment ago is a clue."  
  
"So you did understand us, but how?"  
  
"I only understood little bits about structure and stuff but it's been so long since I've heard anyone use that language and this killer headache isn't letting me remember what it's called. Where are we anyways?"  
  
"An exact replica of Citadel. He must have rebuilt it."  
  
"Again back to my very first question, who's he?"  
  
"Me." A mysterious man's voice said as he popped up from the side of the cell as he turned off the force field. Catching Sakura by surprise, he grabbed Sakura's wrist and roughly pulled her out before raising the shield again.  
  
"Syaoran, help me!!" Sakura screamed as the balding, old man twisted her arm around her back causing her a great deal of pain.  
  
"Sakura!!" Syaoran yelled. "Let her go you bastard!" Syaoran raised his green lightning bolt surrounded hands up to the force field and exerts blasts of electricity to it causing the force field to collapse long enough for Syaoran to get through before it reactivated. He tried to run towards Sakura, but was apprehended by human soldiers with long, thick rubber gloves on. Thousands of thread-like electrical bolts resembling static electricity surrounded Syaoran, but the guards weren't affected. While Syaoran struggled with the guards, the man pulled a covered tray towards the bound and struggling Sakura.  
  
"Let me go, Racken!!" Sakura seethed.  
  
"Wonderful to see you as well." Racken said almost cheerfully as he pulled out a pair of laser sheers from underneath the covered tray. "I'll deal with you tomorrow Syaoran, and you, Mr. Kinigamo, I'll torture you for the base at dawn."  
  
Sakura's eyes widened in fear as the long yellow light protruded from the laser sheers. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut as the device neared her hair, when suddenly they flew out of Racken's hands, creating a black burn across the floor. Syaoran defiantly smirked at Racken's failed attempt.  
  
"Your powers have grown more than I thought," Racken said admiringly before he pulled on Sakura's hair causing her to wince, "but if you try that again I'll kill your protector."  
  
Racken didn't bother picking up the sheers and just swept Sakura's hair aside to reveal a deep jagged scar on the back of her neck beginning at the base of her hair. Racken lightly brushed strands of hair away from the scar area while Sakura shook with fear at every touch.  
  
"Why look, it's the scar I gave you Sakura." Racken lightly traced the scar from beginning to end causing Sakura to whimper. "Are you still scared of that little thing?" Racken pulled out an empty needle as the guards dragged Syaoran over to Racken and pulled up his left shirtsleeve to reveal a long jagged scar trailing from his elbow to just before suicide point on his wrist. Racken proceeded to trace the scar with the tip of the needle causing Syaoran to bleed miniscule droplets in a few areas. The entire time, Syaoran didn't even flinch but furiously glared at Racken. "See? Syaoran isn't afraid of the scar I gave him."  
  
"That's because the one you gave me didn't almost kill me." Syaoran sneered.  
  
"Well, Sakura wasn't left with any permanent physical damage." Racken said nonchalantly.  
  
"What do you mean no physical damage? Sakura couldn't walk for five months, you bastard!" Syaoran raged.  
  
"She's just fine now." Racken walks over to Sakura who immediately closed her eyes at the feeling of the cold tip of the needle piercing into her neck and drawing blood out.  
  
Racken placed the needle on the tray and took out a small black box with rounded corners and two small metal poles stretching out of the top. Racken turned the device on and a purple light extended between the poles. He grabbed Sakura's left wrist and ran the scanner over it to make a barcode appear. It was still visible after the light was taken away but then quickly faded away a few moments later. The guards roughly threw Syaoran into the cell and he slid on his back until he hit the wall. Meanwhile, Racken was busy unbinding Sakura. After her hands were unbound, Racken carelessly threw Sakura into the cell to be caught in the protective embrace of Syaoran where she let her tears soak into his shirt.  
  
"Shh, shh, shhhh. We'll find a way out of here soon, I promise." Syaoran tried to soothe Sakura as he rubbed her back.  
  
¤¤¤°°¤ 3:48 AM ¤°°¤¤¤ (that's the time it is right now)  
  
Touya and Syaoran sat side by side and had their backs up against the wall. Both were wide-awake staring at the several blinking lights on the consul while Sakura had cried herself to sleep with her head resting on Syaoran's legs. Syaoran passed the time by stroking Sakura's hair and fine- tuning their plan of escape. Touya passed the time by counting how many times the green lights blinked. After losing count for the umpteenth time, he decided he was going to go mad.  
  
"It feels like it's four in the morning." Touya rubbed his head groggily. Syaoran took a look at his watch and pressed a button to make it light up.  
  
"Actually, it's 3:48 AM. Why don't you get some rest?" Syaoran asked as he took off his jacket to wrap around the shivering Sakura.  
  
"Could you sleep if you were going to be tortured in the morning?"  
  
"It's not that bad, but I guess it is better when you are so delirious from lack of sleep that you don't feel the pain."  
  
"Gee, well thanks. You seem to have had it rough, what happened to you guys here?"  
  
"Where should I start, alphabetically, chronologically, or by degree of pain?"  
  
"From the beginning, I guess that would make it easier to understand."  
  
"Well, I remember waking up here when I was three. My memory had been wiped and all I could remember was my name, age, birthday, and that I knew how to fight. It was evident that I had been struggling since I had cuts and bruises all over my body. Sitting in a cell similar to this one, three floors up, I heard blood curdling screams of eight children when they were killed for some reason or another. My guess is that they didn't have the magic Racken wanted and I did, that's the only reason he kept me. Not knowing whom to trust, I trusted Racken, at first. He immediately made me begin practicing with the only possession I had from the life I left."  
  
"You mean your sword right?"  
  
"Yeah, my katana. Every technique or sword skill Racken could find, I had to learn and learn fast. Within weeks it had to be perfect."  
  
Suddenly, Syaoran's watch began to beep, interrupting him. He nudged Sakura to wake up and she groggily looked at his watch, then shook herself awake.  
  
"What's happening?" Touya asked confused.  
  
"I think it's about time we leave this place." Syaoran replied with a glint of mischief in his eyes. He shocked the force field once again and it shorted out, but he kept on exerting electricity. Pretty soon, another shield shorted out as well and Syaoran hopped through. "He always puts up two when we escape the first time." Syaoran proceeded to walk over to the controls and pushed rapid amounts of buttons that made all the power go out in the entire room. All that could be seen was Sakura's glowing eyes (A.N. when I say glowing, I mean everything: the whites of her eyes, pupils, iris, the works) as three dark objects floated towards them.  
  
"I've got our bags, let's go." Sakura whispered as the lights flickered back on.  
  
"They probably already detected us, so we better get movin'." Syaoran explained as he led the way out the door. He weaved in and out of the corridors, shorting out all the security systems that got in the way. As the group neared the exit, red sirens began to blare.  
  
"They know we're missing!" Touya hissed.  
  
"Then we better start going faster." Syaoran sneered back. It took a couple of minutes to get to the last door and the group was almost free until.  
  
"Hey! You! Freeze right there!" All three spun around in shock as a group of guards ran towards them. Touya quickly opened his hand and blew whatever was in it at the guards. It glittered as the powder settled in their eyes and all the soldiers dropped to the floor.  
  
"And they really expected us to stop?" Syaoran questioned their stupid antics.  
  
"Move it, now!" Touya said sternly snapping the youths back to reality. Once out the door, they didn't stop running until they reached the woods 3 miles away to catch their breath.  
  
"What do we do now?" Touya asked getting ready to move on.  
  
"We figure out how they found us?" Syaoran said as he held onto Touya shirt to stop him from moving.  
  
"That's a good question. I definitely am not with him, you can ask Racken himself. He wants me dead."  
  
"You make a good point, but I still don't trust you. It has to be something like a bug. I never checked my stuff since I don't know anyone who would bug it." Syaoran pondered.  
  
"We should check them all right now, they could still be bugged." Sakura suggested.  
  
"Okay," Syaoran said as he ran his hand all over his bag and clothes while nothing happened. "Do you have anything electronic in your bag?" Syaoran asked Touya.  
  
"Yeah, hold up a sec." Touya said and he began pulling out guns, bombs, and electronic equipment to communicate with people out of his bag. "That's it." Touya said as he pulled out half the things in his bag.  
  
"Who are you?" Syaoran asked as he took a step back.  
  
"The leader of the resistance against Racken." Touya said calmly. Syaoran shook his head and ran his hands over Touya's bag and clothes.  
  
"He's clean." Syaoran stated.  
  
"That just leaves me." Sakura sighed. Syaoran first checked the clothes she was wearing. Then, he ran his hands over her bag and both straps started to spark. Syaoran carefully pulled out 20 bugs from each strap.  
  
"Holy shit." Syaoran breathed as he took out the final one. "Racken is definitely out to get us. Have you ever lent this bag out to anybody, Sakura?"  
  
"Yeah, of course." Sakura answered.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"I don't know, everybody at the bar. I've had that bag for three years, it could have been anybody."  
  
"We better watch our backs because that means that someone has been watching us, someone close." Syaoran warned.  
  
"How do you know it's not her? No offense or anything." Touya asked.  
  
"Just think, would you want to go back to THAT? He's done a lot of seriously inhumane things to us and we'd rather die than be associated with the sick psychopath."  
  
"Besides, I have had some extremely.awful experiences with him. All the different things I've been through would give you nightmares for years." Sakura added as she almost started to shake.  
  
"I guess I understand. Let's get going, uh, but where to?" Touya asked as he swept up the bugs and tied them to a rather large, flying mechanical bug. He set it loose and the bug started to fly to their left.  
  
"Mythdelin, we know someone we can trust there." Syaoran answered while picking up his bag and he began to walk off in a direction.  
  
"How do you know which way to go?" Touya asked as he ran off after them.  
  
"We have escaped this place before, you know." Sakura answered as she hovered in the air next to him with her eyes glowing and her hair floating. "Come on."  
  
°°°¤¤° In Mythdelin a week later °¤¤°°  
  
Three travelers entered the town around noon looking quite exhausted. Lack of sleep was evident in their eyes and weariness of travel evident in their shabby clothes. Mythdelin was a place of large buildings and huge businesses. It was a steel jungle that could either make a person's career or break that person down. The three travelers walked up Main Legend Street to the largest building in the entire city. At seeing the large building, Sakura suddenly received a burst of energy and ran to the building.  
  
"I can't believe it took a week to walk here." Touya complained as he dragged his feet behind him.  
  
"It's not really surprising since that drug they used on us lasted for about three days and they did have us transported in a hover craft." Syaoran replied just as tiredly.  
  
"Three days? I can't believe that Racken's base is so far away from here. I thought it would be closer, like a day." Touya whined.  
  
"It's for secrecy and quit your whining already. You're beginning to sound like you're three." Syaoran said to Touya aggravated. Touya was about to shoot a comment back at Syaoran but they reached the building where Sakura was hopping around excitedly and thought against it.  
  
"You know someone who works in this building?" Touya asked surprised.  
  
"No." Sakura smiled  
  
"We know the people who own this building." Syaoran smirked. Touya just shook his head thinking that these two were psycho. The owners of the Todaerhiir (A.N. get it? I hope you do. It's the first parts of their first and last names) Company had packed agendas and it took months to get an appointment, everybody knew that. Yet, Touya still stupidly walked into the building.  
  
"Can I help you?" The receptionist at the desk asked annoyed as she redirected 30 calls at a time.  
  
"Yes you can. We are here to see Tomoyo Daidouji and Eriol Hiiragizawa." Sakura chirped happily.  
  
"Do you have an appointment?" The receptionist asked a bit irritated.  
  
"Nope." Syaoran answered.  
  
"I'm sorry then, only people with appointments can see Ms. Daidouji and Mr. Hiiragizawa." The receptionist said as if she wished they would go away.  
  
"Just tell them that Sakura and Syaoran are here and if they don't allow us to come up, I'll give you 750,000,000 Loorns." Sakura said without even blinking.  
  
"Ca..can I have that in writing?" The receptionist stuttered seeing as how 750,000,000 Loorns could buy someone their very own country.  
  
"Of course." Sakura said as she wrote it down and signed the paper. Touya stood there with his mouth almost on the ground. Either Sakura had a lot of money to spare, which she probably didn't since she worked at a bar, or she was just plain insane. He opted for insane. As soon as Sakura handed the girl the paper, she dropped everything and called straight up to Tomoyo's office.  
  
"Ms. Daidouji?" The receptionist asked. "I know you said to not be disturbed, but a girl here told me to tell you her name was Sakura and..hello? hello? Ms. Daidouji? Well, I guess you owe me-" The receptionist was cut off by the rapid sound of high heels thundering down the stairs. A stunning girl with long, silky black, flowing hair that reached to her waist in loose curls who was dressed in a black business skirt and jacket with a white shirt appeared from the stairs entrance.  
  
"Sakura!" The girl screamed as she tackled Sakura to the ground in a hug. "I've missed you so much!"  
  
The current scene in front of the viewers received a multitude of reactions. Syaoran just grinned, Touya's eyes were wide with shock and he couldn't speak, the receptionist fainted to the floor from shock, and the rest of the workers were speechless from sheer surprise at the fact that their boss was acting like this towards a girl who looked nothing like a person who Ms. Daidouji would fraternize with.  
  
"It's so good to see you Tomoyo!" Sakura giggled as the girls got up off the floor.  
  
"You.you.you know her, Ms. Daidouji?" The receptionist asked trying to recompose herself.  
  
"Of course I know her!! And Syaoran, it's so good to see you, too!!! You've been taking care of Sakura, right?" Tomoyo said as she leaped onto Syaoran to hug him.  
  
"Of course I've been taking care of her and it's good to see you to." Syaoran chuckled. Just then, the elevator door dinged and out walked an absolutely drop dead gorgeous knight in an Armani suit with short blue hair and glasses. He justly rivaled Syaoran in the good looks department.  
  
"Amazing," he said, "you managed to beat me down here from the 110th floor, using the stairs, in a skirt, and to top it all off, you didn't even break your heels."  
  
"Eriol!!" Sakura screamed as she ran up to the guy and leapt towards him giving him a hug.  
  
"Hey Sakura, it's great to see you. It's been a long time."  
  
"I know!! And you should know that Tomoyo has practiced for ages in the proper ways of running and jumping with skirts and heels. You shouldn't be surprised." Sakura mock scolded.  
  
"So, how have you been?" Eriol asked curiously. "And you, how have you been Syaoran?"  
  
"I was good until you came down here." Syaoran joked slightly smirking as he took Eriol's hand and both pulled each other into a brief hug.  
  
"Ah, you hold grudges forever." Eriol grinned. "So how have you been?"  
  
"It might take a while to explain." Sakura sighed.  
  
"Of course!! Melleaha, (receptionist) cancel all my appointments and meetings today and only let urgent calls through." Tomoyo ordered as the group of five walked toward the elevator.  
  
"Yes.yes of course ma'am." Melleaha replied as she heard faint laughter in reply from the closed elevator door. She was still caught speechless as she recovered from this major surprise.  
  
~  
  
The group stepped onto the top floor of the building into one gigantic office that covered the entire floor. The walls were made of a strong transparent substance that allowed you a wonderful view of the entire city. Two desks occupied the room on opposite sides and between them, expertly scattered, were couches, tables, plants, and various office machines.  
  
Sakura plopped down on a couch to rest since she seemed to have less and less energy lately. Tomoyo proceeded to walk to a small kitchen in the corner of the room and fill a teapot with water and set it on the stove to heat then walked over to Sakura. The two boys walked over to a pool table close to Eriol's desk. Syaoran picked up a cue (that's what the pool sticks are called stick) and tested it out before he twirled it around to show acceptance. Eriol racked up the balls and walked over to one of the outer corners of the pool table where he stomped on the floor to have a pool stick shoot up from the floor. He easily caught it and twirled it around.  
  
"Show off!" Syaoran sneered.  
  
"No more than you are, Syaoran." Eriol smiled.  
  
"Just rack 'em, chicken legs."  
  
"Whatever you say, wolf boy." As the four teenagers went about their business as if they were at home, Touya stood at the door next to Sakura's and Syaoran's bags and cloaks wide eyed and in shock.  
  
"Sakura?" Tomoyo whispered.  
  
"Hmmm?" Sakura answered groggily.  
  
"Who is that at the door and why is he here?"  
  
"Oh, him. He's a guy that was with us when Racken caught us and evidently, Racken wants him too. Mr. Kinigamo!! You can sit down if you want."  
  
"I think he's still in shock of being here."  
  
"Probably." Sakura shrugged as she closed her eyes. Touya hadn't moved an inch from his spot and his expressions were still the same as the events of the past couple of moments sunk in.  
  
Syaoran was just about to take his turn when he looked up and pointed his finger at Touya whispering to Eriol. A small beam of lightning shot out of his finger and hit Touya making him jump up and yelp. This caused Eriol to chuckle and Syaoran to smirk as he aimed the pool stick and knocked two balls into the corner pocket. Touya glared at Syaoran as he walked up to him. Eriol quickly spun his stick around and used it to block Touya's path on his journey to strangle Syaoran.  
  
"Ah, ah, ah. We just had the carpet put in and we don't need blood on it." Eriol chided. Touya just "hmphed" in reply as he sat in a chair near by to watch the other two play their game. Ten minutes passed before a high- pitched whistle coming from the teapot made everyone look up and Sakura jump with a start out of her slumber. Tomoyo poured the tea and called the boys to the area where she was sitting to have tea.  
  
"So, now will you tell us how you've been?" Tomoyo questioned brightly.  
  
"Where should we begin? And do you have anything to eat?" Sakura asked. Tomoyo nodded and got up and told her personal secretary to get some food.  
  
"Begin at the beginning and when you get to the end, stop." Eriol stated with a chesire cat grin.  
  
"When the earth formed." Syaoran began.  
  
"That's not what I meant, idiot." Eriol said rolling his eyes.  
  
"I know." Syaoran smiled. "Well we were on our way here when..." Syaoran, Sakura, and Touya explained the entire story up to that point.  
  
"Wow," was all Tomoyo could say. As for Eriol, he remained silent and in deep thought.  
  
"There is just one thing that strikes me as odd." Eriol pondered out loud.  
  
"Yourself?" Syaoran asked.  
  
"Besides that, it's just that.how did they find you and get the bugs into Sakura's bag? I mean if they had a chance to put tracking devices on you guys why didn't they come for you sooner?"  
  
"I know, I've been thinking about it and I just can't figure it out. Everyone we knew had no clue of our past and we had reason to trust everyone."  
  
"That should be reason for more worry since the person who betrayed you came off as a friend, someone you could trust." Tomoyo warned as she gave Sakura her second plate of seafood lo mein and impyow soup. (A.N. So very sorry, I only eat it a lot, I keep forgetting how to spell it.)  
  
"I don't get something." Touya announced.  
  
"I was under the impression that you didn't get a lot of things." Syaoran muttered to get slapped in the head by Tomoyo. He flinched and grabbed his head as he said an "ouch."  
  
"Why is it that Sakura had her blood taken and not Syaoran?" Touya continued not hearing Syaoran.  
  
"He needed to know what my current health was so that they could go back into old ways. What I was told was that because of my powers, I somehow absorb a lot of iron in my body and I burn a lot of oxygen in my blood to fuel them. It used to give me some severe cases of anemia where I used to pass out and it can also be very dangerous to my body if it's a continuous thing. It also makes me very tired, which is why it is so hard to wake me up. Anyways, when I was back at Citadel, I had daily blood tests to show my current health and if I needed a dose of iron and oxygen that day. When we escaped the center, I was just really careful and compensated by sleeping a lot to save energy and I usually eat foods that have a lot of iron. On days when I'm really tired, I take iron pills. " Sakura explained.  
  
"Yeah, that happens to the females in my family." Touya remarked.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah. My Mom always ate these iron-packed, gross tasting foods. On an off-day when she felt really devoid of energy, she could always take a basic potion."  
  
"Oh, well I guess that means you really are an Enchanter." Eriol said with no change in emotion.  
  
"How did you.where did you." Touya asked confused as he pointed at Eriol who had taken a sip of his tea.  
  
"Well, for one, the only people I know of that are capable of making potions that work are in a lovely Enchanter Village a little while away from here. And two, that tattoo on your right wrist is printed on every male Enchanter's wrist who has turned 10 and has proven he is worthy to be recognized as possessing and mastering a weapon."  
  
"But still, how did you..?" Touya still looked confused as he made amusing gesticulations with his hands.  
  
"My plane crashed near there when I was a kid and I stayed had to stay a while because I was badly hurt. I learned quite a bit about them while I was there."  
  
"Plus, my mom descended from Enchanters, but my grandmother left that lifestyle when she was 16 and made a life here in the city. We have family there supposedly, but we very rarely talk to each other. I was taught a few traditions and stories when I was little." Tomoyo added. "Did you take a pill since you're so tired Sakura?"  
  
"(YAWN) Yeah, this morning, during breakfast." Sakura replied sleepily.  
  
"I wonder what's wrong then?" Syaoran inquired worriedly.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe I'm just a bit under the weather, I'm sure I'll be okay soo- (YAWN)" Sakura was interrupted rudely by her own yawn. "-n. You know I think I'm going to take a little nap."  
  
"Well, while you rest, the boys over here can refuel and rest from your long voyage here." Tomoyo smiled reassuringly.  
  
"Thanks." Sakura said before curling up the couch and falling asleep.  
  
"Here you guys. It was impyow soup and seafood lo mein if Sakura didn't eat it all."  
  
"I wonder what made her so hungry and tired?" Touya asked as he picked up a bowl of food.  
  
"Probably just the trip. I'm sure she's fine. I hope she's fine." Syaoran trailed off.  
  
"Don't be silly Syaoran, Sakura's fine." Tomoyo exclaimed.  
  
"You're right. I'm just being overprotective of her. Pass the impyow soup."  
  
The two guys continued to chow down on their food substances while they talked about various topics one after the other until....  
  
"So where are you guys gonna go?" Eriol asked.  
  
"I don't know yet. It's too dangerous to stay here. He'll come for us soon if we stay and we'll be putting you in danger." Syaoran answered.  
  
"Well, considering you guys did save my ass and all and anyone who has Racken on his tail is worth saving, you guys could always stay with me at the Rebel Hideaway." Touya offered.  
  
"Are you serious?"  
  
"Yeah, sure. Why not?"  
  
"Cool, I guess. Thanks."  
  
"No Problem. I can have someone pick us up and we can leave now or we could wait for Sakura to wake up and walk later."  
  
"That sounds good. How far away from here is it?"  
  
"Far."  
  
"I think it would be better to wait for Sakura. I'll give her an hour or so and then we'll go."  
  
"Okay with me." Touya then pulled out a communicator and went to one of the corners of the room. All Syaoran was able to pick up was, "stand by for pick up."  
  
°°¤¤°°This is boring so why don't we're just skipping forward°°¤¤°°  
  
Syaoran looked at his watch and decided that it was time they get going and told Touya. Touya promptly went to one of his bags and pulled out a strange mechanical device where he pressed various buttons to get a nice musical sound as a result. Syaoran continued to the sofa that Sakura was lying on and knelt down beside it.  
  
"Sakura," Syaoran whispered as he gently combed her hair with his hand.  
  
"Hmmm?" Sakura asked as she turned her head to feel his gentle touch.  
  
"It's time to go now."  
  
"Alright," Sakura groggily sat up and stretched. Syaoran laughed as she yawned. "What's so funny?" Syaoran rummaged through her bag and pulled out a flat, rectangular object and handed it to Sakura.  
  
"Take a look." Sakura looked in the mirror and was met with the sight of a bush of tangles known as her hair.  
  
"Oh. Pass me my brush please."  
  
"Sure."  
  
As soon as Sakura had finished fixing her hair and put it back into it's regular loose half ponytail held by a claw, Sakura and Syaoran went to gather their things together. Eriol and Tomoyo greeted them with a bag of food to take with them just in case the food at the Resistance Fortress was, well, gross. For about 15 minutes they stood arguing with the two prominent business partners about taking the money they offered. Finally realizing that Tomoyo and Eriol were among the richest in the world, they took the money and thanked their friends for all their help. They were pulled out of their thankful good-byes when something from Touya's bag started to beep loudly and rapidly. At that sound, Touya went to his bag and pulled out the communication device.  
  
"Sir?" A voice over the communicator rang out.  
  
"Yes, it's me. Go ahead." Touya answered.  
  
"We have entered Mythdelin, where do you want us to land, sir?"  
  
"On the tallest building top."  
  
"But that's-"  
  
"I know, just do it. We'll be waiting for you at the top."  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"Well, let's go. Our ride's here." Touya said as he put the communicator in his bag and slung it over his shoulder.  
  
"Looks like we have to go. It was nice seeing you again." Sakura said as she tightly hugged Tomoyo.  
  
"Yeah, same here. I'm going to miss you." Tomoyo replied as she gently pulled away and proceeded to hug Syaoran. "You too Syaoran. Be careful and make sure you take care of Sakura."  
  
"I will." Syaoran replied.  
  
"Take care of yourself." Sakura said to Eriol as she hugged him.  
  
"We'll be fine. It's you who needs to be careful." Eriol said as he smiled.  
  
"Alright."  
  
The trio took the elevator to the roof. As soon as they opened the door, they were met with the sight of a hummingbird -a small, quick hovercraft- setting down on the top of the building. As quickly as they could, they boarded the hovercraft and were off to the secret Resistance Fortress.  
  
"Honestly sir, I really didn't think you would actually be up here when we landed." The pilot said.  
  
"You should have some faith in your leader." Touya smugly remarked.  
  
"Uh, sir, who are they?" The pilot said gesturing to Sakura and Syaoran.  
  
"Friends." Touya smiled as he watched Sakura fall back asleep on Syaoran's shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her protectively.  
  
It took about an hour and a half to get to the Resistance base. From what Syaoran saw, it looked like they were somewhere in the woods. He didn't see anything that looked like a building or fortress or any base of operations. Honestly, all he saw was a bunch of trees and green stuff. When all five people had exited the hummingbird, a large box-like object covered in foliage rose from the floor and the craft was pushed inside, then hidden again. Still, neither Syaoran nor Sakura saw a single sign of a base.  
  
"Uh," Sakura finally spoke up, "where's, the base? I know it has to be well hidden but I can't see a single thing around here that would indicate a 'secret headquarters.'"  
  
"That would be because the hideout isn't around here," Touya paused for dramatic effect, which was achieved when Sakura and Syaoran gave them quizzical looks, "it's up there." Touya said as he pointed up.  
  
"Up where?" Syaoran said, with a perplexed expression on. 'This guy must be insane,' he thought to him self. Sakura just stared at Touya in disbelief.  
  
"Up, look at the finger pointing," Touya, said comically, waving his finger in the air. "See...up" "I don't see anything." Syaoran scoffed. Now he really believed that this guy was off his rocker.  
  
"Syaoran," Sakura said in an aggravated voice filled with attitude, "if Touya says that there is a top-secret, camouflaged, operational command center for all rebellion activities, state-of-the-art, completely self- dependent, fully functional base up in the trees, then there's a top- secret, camouflaged, operational command center for all rebellion activities, state-of-the-art, completely self-dependent, fully functional base up in the trees. You got it? Good. Let's go. Lead the way Captain Crackhead." Both males just stood and stared at the being that had possessed the good-natured girl with their eyes wide and their mouths moving up and down trying to form words. "Don't just stand there and look at me like I'm turning green with neon orange polka-dots. Get your asses in gear. I am NOT in the mood, have a pound of filth steadily growing on me, and God knows what on my body from "prancing" around for a week in someone's idea for a fungus farm. I don't even want to think of the gross things I've been sleeping on. Now can we start moving so I can at least TRY to remove this repugnant sewage from my body because while we've been standing here I think I've been collecting dust."  
  
"Um..." Touya tried to find words to express his suprise.  
  
"Must I hurt you?" Sakura's voice was dripping with irritation.  
  
"No, uh, right this way." Touya said before adding under his breath, "Miss P.M.S"  
  
"I heard that!" Sakura said, "All it proves is how little you know about me and women in general. Must be difficult for you to know that you are hopelessly outclassed in the area of practical logic."  
  
You could hear Touya's nervouse gulp for a mile. 'Note to self, women are not ones to piss off. Especially not that one.'  
  
~~~~~~  
  
That's all for now. I felt really bad that I hadn't updated, so I just threw everything that I wrote so far in this chapter. It should be about a chapter and 1/2 worth. Hope you liked it.  
  
Make some reference that you read it in a review. That would be really neat. You know click on review and say, "Hi!" That's all I really need. Just knowing people read and enjoyed is enough for me. 


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